Orion partners with DiData on Aastra telecoms solutions

Nov 10, 2008

Orion Telecom has secured a distribution agreement with Dimension Data that will enable the company to begin supplying its customers with the Aastra range of telecommunication solutions.

Aastra has a range of innovative, integrated solutions that address the communication needs of businesses of all sizes on a global scale."The Aastra product range of telecoms equipment was developed originally by Ericsson and offers a full range of switches that covers everything from plain analogue to hybrid offerings to full IP versions," says Orion MD Jacques du Toit."The deal allows Orion to sell Dimension Data's Aastra range of products as a service to our clients – in other words, we retain ownership of our clients, with Dimension Data providing services to us and our customers as a single client with many different branches and Orion retaining control of the client billing process."Du Toit says that there are many synergies between the two organisations that will enable them both to do better business, including the extended reach it will provide Dimension Data into areas of the market where Orion is traditionally strong."Dimension Data has an established track record of delivering world-class ICT services and solutions. Combining this with Orion's strong client base and skills, Dimension Data will be able to provide more comprehensive services and solutions ideally tailored to the these clients," says Kevin Hardy, Dimension Data GM for Converged Communications."Orion owns in the region of 60% of the corporate voice least cost routing market clientele in South Africa already so, instead of trying to compete with them, it makes sense for us to team up with them and get them working on our behalf, selling our products into the market space that they already dominate," says Hardy.According to du Toit, although Orion Telecom only supplies its clients with well known and respected brands, the company remains technology-agnostic, which enables it to provide the best solution to fit a client's specific requirements."We deliberately chose Dimension Data and its Aastra range because they are so strong in the mid-market to upper market space, and this complements another recent deal we signed with Tellumat, which has products that cover both the high end of the market and the small and medium enterprise (SME) arena."